Space Ace HD Review (PC)

Ace in the 21st Century

If you were a teenager in the 80s then you certainly have fond memories of Don Bluth’s laser-disc games like Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace. These games were simply amazing at the time and were so bleeding edge that you could sever an arm if you got too close to the cabinet.

For those of you who never owned a vinyl album, Dragon’s Lair and Space Ace were basically “interactive movies” controlled with a standard arcade joystick and fire button. The high-quality hand-drawn animation (by Don Bluth studios) were contained on an array of laser-discs, and scenes were dynamically presented based on your correct (or incorrect) input. At the time, CDs were brand new, and laser-discs were more or less based on CD technology, so about 30 minutes of semi-standard-definition video would fit on each side of an 11-inch disc. The discs supported random-access just like today’s CDs and DVDs, which is what made the games “interactive”.

There were about 20 or so laser-disc games spawned in the eighties, but ony Don Bluth’s games reached any level of ubiquity. This may be because the level of animation was never at the level of quality that this senior animated could churn out. Don Bluth was originally a Disney animator that moved on to create his own studio, and is the genius behind “The Secrets of Nihm”, “Anastasia”, “The Land Before Time”, “Titan A.E”, and many other classic animated films.

Now Digital Leisure has introduced Space Ace in High Definition format. These aren’t merely upscaled transfers from laser-disc but a total re-mastering of the original film. Yes, back in those days animation was still done using hand-painted cells and cellulose film. If you were a fan of these classic games (or are just an animation buff) then Space Ace HD will certainly interest you.

First ever High Definition Film Transfer!

For the first time ever you can experience the stunning visuals of Space Acer in full High Definition video! Using the most sophisticated film transfer technology, this smash hit arcade game can now be played in High Definition and fantastic 5.1 Surround Sound on your computer.

In Space Ace you play the heroic Ace who must stop the evil Commander Borf from taking over the Earth! Borf plans to reduce all of humankind to infants and take over the planet. Only two people have the courage and strength to stop Borf and save Earth: the beautiful Kimberly and the heroic Ace. But as they approach Borf’s stronghold, Ace is hit by the Infanto Ray, changing him into a child, and Kimberly is kidnapped by the evil madman!

The fate of Earth is in your hands!

Features:

Relive the Arcade experience with this remastered HD adventure

Completely Arcade Authentic

Fully interactive gameplay digitally remastered from the original film

Restored original soundtrack, for the first time in 5.1 surround sound